It starts with a fleeting image detached from meaning. Usually something mundane in the corner of my eye or washed over in a glance while going/doing something else. Superficial without a drop of symbolic value. Had one just now before the mirror with my mouth filled with foaming tooth paste. Gone instantly but that’s enough to leave an after thought.

Which starts to gnaw away. I feel oddly compelled to describe the picture in words (with more than or less than a 1000). The image leads to other images. The visuals get metaphorised (by the power vested in me by me I hereby declare declare “metaphorised” as a legit word. So there. Now where was I?). Usually the “first generation” metaphors lead to scattered generalisations. Mostly non sequitur but quite pleasurable describe.

The ideas gather mass with the steadiness of a dung beetle‘s ball of dung. The words follow me everywhere (very much my own ball of dung). At this point the writing becomes a pile word vomit. No structure. No coherence. Nothing worth while to say. But the view from the top of that meaningless mound offers a new view on things. Eventfully the sun rises on the new realisation. Its a satisfying aha moment (sorry but I have to clean out the concrete imagery cupboard).

Eventaully its time to sort out the words. Squeeze some coherence out of it so that a less unhinged mind might find it a not so annoying read. The process takes time. Ideas squawking noisier than an bird colony on National Geographic. Something about check points, Kottu.org, Sri Lanka’s hidden temples, and travelling the back roads.

Its not about what I will say to change the world. The addiction to blogging/writing is about the thrill of what I might discover. Of course its a decadently selfish thing.

Rewrites happen in the head while running. Fades out the sensation of time. Helps break my old endurance barriers. Yes I should sit down an structure out the idea. Set it up in the inverted pyramid method etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. My 24 hours isn’t managed ruthlessly enough to polish thing properly before the demands of the next post sweeps me away. I’ve made my peace with that. Thankfully I’m not too crazy over it to get upset when the task load tsunamies away my limited blog time. But I peck it out when I get to it.